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The band was formed in 1997[1] by the guitarist Sarah Utter, after recruiting her high-school friend Jesse Fox on drums and Maggie Vail. Vail had to learn how to play bass guitar to be in the band, as the only instruments she played before were drums, guitar, cello and clarinet.[2]

Fox left the band after a long U.S. tour, and Bangs went through a succession of drummers (Heather Dunn,[3] Kyle Ermatinger[4][5]) before settling with Olympia's Peter David Connelly.[6] They recorded their last EP, Call and Response,[7][8] in a frigidly cold farmhouse basement with the engineer Justin Trosper of Unwound.[9]

Bangs broke up in September 2004 after Utter moved to Los Angeles. Their last show was at Olympia's Eagles Hall as part of Kill Rock Stars' 'Yeah! Fest!'.[11] Vail has since relocated to Portland, Oregon, where she plays in the bands Romancing and Leti Angel. Peter David still lives in Olympia and plays in The Mona Reels as well as other groups such as The November Witch, Tumwater Video and The Devon Williams Band. Utter has since moved back to the northwest and spends her time painting and playing bass guitar with Craig Extine and Kris Cunningham in the band Western Hymn.